


The Whereabouts of Worm

by ArchLichCovenant



Series: The Purpose of a Belt [3]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Parahumans Series - Wildbow, Worm - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:29:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16665121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchLichCovenant/pseuds/ArchLichCovenant
Summary: How will the arrival of a powerful Masked Rider upset the balance of parahuman society? And can the pulpy heroics of a rider really stand against such a harsh reality?





	1. A Brief Interlude

A bullet train rides across an infinite desert, the Den-Liner travelling the sands of time. Within its dining cart four oni-like beings sit huddled on one end, observing their guest: a young man in a black suit with long ebony hair. He sits in a booth pouring over a leatherbound book intently. A young woman in a tight stewardess outfit approaches the guest with a fresh cup of coffee “Here you go Ishi.” She warmly informs the young man.

“Thank you.” Ishi accepts the coffee, taking a whiff of its aroma “Smells as perfect as usual, Naomi.” he shoots her a soft smile before returning to his reading. Naomi bows before returning to behind the counter. After a few moments the door opens and an older man in a suit walking with a cane enters, taking a seat across from Ishi.

“How goes the project? The man asks Ishi.

“Quite well, all things considered. Both of our latest recruits are taking to their roles swimmingly.” Ishi grins, looking up from his book “Nice of you to ask, Mr.Owner”

“The success of this operation is important to all of us. I saw how you impersonated the sage Edith when approaching young Mr. Ikari.” Owner informs Ishi with a bit of a joking tone.

“I thought it was the best method to ensure his cooperation.”

“I see.” he chuckles heartily “So where to next?”

“I have a few names on the short list, although…” Ishi punctuates his sentence with a deep sigh while staring defeatedly at his book.

“Although?” Owner raises an eyebrow at Ishi.

“One stands above the rest, yet sits in a precarious position. She is fated to defeat a threat of such magnitude… I fear that interceding at the wrong time could tip the balance of her world towards disaster. If things were to go wrong, we could lose an entire fragment of the multiverse. Not even the power of your golden rider pass would be enough to save it then” Ishi’s face turns quite dour at this.

“Well then, Mr. Genius” Owner cracks a wry smile “What would it take to ensure her victory?”

Ishi stares down the Owner of the Den-Liner incredulously “You can’t seriously be implying what I think you are?”

“I think that the others and I would be willing to entertain any plan you may devise at this junction. Do you think it would be pertinent to grant this young miss such power?”

“If anyone deserves and needs that power, and can use it right, it may be her” Ishi, the genius of riders, grins wickedly. Quickly he snaps up his book, downs his coffee and turns to the Owner “Our destination is Earth Bet, A.R. World of Worm!”


	2. The Sun in the Sky

Taylor had left for an afternoon run, an extended one at that. She is currently jogging across the boardwalk, taking a blind corner too tight she crashes into another pedestrian and falls back onto her ass. “Are you alright?” she heard a soothing male voice calls out. Looking up Taylor sees a young man (she couldn’t quite tell his age, he could be her age or a decade older for all she could figure) wearing an all black suit, tie included, with long black hair and holding a leatherbound book. He reached down, offering to help her stand.

“Yeah I’m alright” She took his hand and he pulled her up quickly “Sorry, I was a little preoccupied with my thoughts”

“No problem at all, Ms.Herbert” He replied, confounding Taylor.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” She asks

“No, we’ve never met. For now let’s just say I’m a fellow fan of insects” He gave a soft smile to punctuate his sentence. Taylor could feel her heart sink. “Why don’t we stop for a cup of coffee and have a little chat.” Taylor gulped in response. Hesitantly she followed the stranger to a small cafe where he ordered them both drinks. He had his book laid out on the table, from what Taylor could see its contents were hand written. And in Japanese. They sat there in silence for a while after their drinks came. Eventually Taylor spoke.

“What do you want?” She asked.

He turned the page of his book “Ahem. Your name is Taylor Anne Herbert, born on June 12th 1995 to Annette and Danny Herbert.” she could see him running a finger down the vertical script as he spoke “On the 14th of August 2008 your mother died in a car accident while distracted by her cellphone. For a long while now you have been suffering from bullying, perpetrated by a group you refer to as the trio: Emma Barnes, Sophia Hess and Madison Clements. You had a trigger event on the third of January this year, granting you control of all arthropods within a certain range. The overwhelming sensory input from this power caused you to have a secondary trigger event granting you the power of infinite-scaling multitasking. Past midnight on April 11th of this year you would make your costumed debut, leading you down a very unexpected path.”

“It’s April first, that hasn’t happened yet.”

“No, it hasn’t”

“How.. how do you know these things? Are you a thinker?”

“I have no parauman abilities whatsoever” he began “but I know many, many things. I know about your notebooks on being a hero. I know about your spider-silk costume hidden in the coal chute. I know why Emma abandoned you. And I know why her and Sophia are so well insulated from the consequences of their actions. That one is of particular interest, I believe it would colour your path considerably.” He clasped his hands together and looked up from his book, locking eyes with Taylor.

“Tell me” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but she couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

“Well Emma’s lawyer father is partially to blame for the stonewalling, but the actual culprits are the PRT. See, Sophia is a probationary member of the Wards called Shadow Stalker.” Taylor’s eyes went wide as the man continued talking “While you were away for the summer Emma was attacked, and was in turn saved by Sophia. Emma clung to her saviour and partially adopted her social darwinist philosophy. Eventually you would get even with the assistance of the Undersiders, your villain team.”

Taylor was taken aback by that last detail “Villain team?”

“Yes. Together you would protect Brockton Bay in ways the heroes could not. Even from threats as grave as the Slaughterhouse 9. Hell, had I left things the way they were you would eventually put up a pretty good fight against both Leviathan and Behemoth, not totally on your own but still.”

“Can you see the future?”

“I told you I’m not a parahuman. No. One of my… employers is capable of time travel. Now mind you, I am not typically so free with information like this. I prefer to play my cards close to the chest as it were, but the situation here is… delicate. Hence my honesty.”

“So… what is it you really want from me?”

The stranger smiled. Seemingly from nowhere he produced a number of “trinkets” which he placed on the table. The first was an elongated golden octagon with a large cloudy orb in the center and was inscribed with egyptian hieroglyphics. The second was a pair of large scarab charms: one indigo and white, the other yellow and black. Both were inscribed with a crest Taylor didn’t recognize. The final one was a small, glowing shard of some sort. He just looked at Taylor, as if gauging her reaction.

“I don’t understand.” She admitted.

“I am a herald of foreign powers. Those of the Cross of Fire. I am offering you the tools to change your fate, hopefully for the better. A transformation driver” he gestured to the golden device “so that you may become the Masked Rider Khepri. Alloy Scarabs” he gestured to the scarabs, which buzzed to life and flew onto Taylor’s shoulder “to enhance your power. And this seed of light” this time he gestured to the glowing shard “which I refined from a seed of violence, so that you may be free of the side effects of being a parahuman while retaining your parahuman abilities.”

“Foreign powers?”

“In the most literal way. Super powers from another world, unrelated to the phenomena of parahumans, is what I offer you.”

“And your being honest because things are “delicate” here?”

“Yes. As such I would ask one thing in exchange for all I have to give: save the world” he gestured vaguely with his hands as if to emphasize that last detail.

“You say that like it’s a simple task.”

“Everything is simple, you just need to break it down to the essential details. Clarifies the picture”

“It’s all kinda hard to believe. Really”

“I’m not asking you to have blind trust in me, I offer these gifts to you in good faith. If you choose to use them, you’ll likely wind up saving the world with or without my direction” He grinned widely.

“I feel stupid but I think… I think I do believe you. At least partially.” Taylor admitted.

“Wonderful.” He stood up from his seat, book in hand, as if to leave before turning back to face Taylor “This whole enterprise is one massive judgement call, a gamble of unparalleled hubris. Still, I believe you’re the one this world needs. That you can do this. Good Luck, miss Herbert. Give them hell” And as quickly as Taylor could blink, the stranger was gone. His gifts on the other hand remained. She was able to fit them in her pockets before rushing back home.

\-------------  
Taylor sat on the hard concrete floor of her basement, with her partially finished costume and the items the stranger gave her laid out in front of her. The scarabs had remained dormant since she left the cafe, but something told her she knew how to activate them. Reaching out with her power the two scarabs rose and began to fly about. Their buzzing echoed through Taylor’s head until they formed words.

“Hello, Khepri” She heard through the droning white noise of the scarab’s buzz.

“Oh, wow. That’s not what I expected to happen” Taylor exclaimed.

“We are the Prince of Rage an Prince of Sorrow. We are here to aid and guide you.” She could just barely make out two separate voices speaking to her.

“Okay. Those are some pretty verbose names.” Taylor laughed a little at the silliness of it.

“Then call us Bio Rider and Robo Rider if you prefer. We are legend rider devices meant to lend you the power of Black RX.”

“That doesn’t really clarify anything, but let’s go back a few steps.” She held up the seed of light “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Place it at the back of your skull, by the brainstem. It should handle the rest”

“I guess I’m going along with this madness, so I might as well” Taylor slowly brought the seed around to the back of her head, took a deep breath, and placed it against her skin. She felt it sink through her flesh, felt the rush of its power through her body. Suddenly she was much more aware of the insects around her. Her powers felt clearer, more refined. As were the voices of the scarabs.

“Much better now isn’t it? Being an Agito instead of a parahuman.” One voice spoke.

“A what?”

“Your powers are now drawn from the seed of light, like an Agito: evolved humans touched by the Overlord of Light’s essence. Over time an Agito’s power would refine until they could become a Rider on their own. The Genius devised your driver to function separately but still draw power from the seed for a bit of added oomph.” The scarab explained.

“You guys keep using that word, Rider. What is a “Rider”?”

“Someone who uses a transformation driver to become a monster, using its powers to save lives and protect humanity’s freedom.” The scarabs were flying around excitedly.

“Okay, makes sense I guess. So this golden thing is my transformation driver?”

“Yup, the Lux Driver.”

“Lux?”

“Like light. I would grant the powers of the Rider Khepri, named for the scarab-headed aspect of the sun god Ra, who rolls the sun across the sky”

“Are most riders so insect themed?”

“Yeah, more or less”

“That explains a few things. So how does it work? I mean, how do I activate it. I figure the actual mechanics of i are a bit too advanced for me.”

“Well to activate it you just place it in front of your waist, pose, yell henshin, and then hit the trigger on the top right corner. But you better hope the mechanics aren’t too advanced because were supposed to teach you how to make more of us.”

“More scarabs?” Taylor thought for a second “Hold on, which one of you am I speaking to?”

“I, the Prince of Rage: Bio Rider!” the indigo scarab flew towards Taylor.

“Alright, so that makes you Robo Rider” She points to the yellow one.

“Naturally” Robo Rider responded.

“So what is it you two do?”

“We can interface with the Lux Driver in order to lend you the power of Riders past. Specifically we grant the powers of Black RX’s two additional forms. Just plug us into one of the two slots on the belt and hit the trigger again.” Bio Rider responded.

“Two slots? Does that mean I can use both of you at once?”

“Theoretically” Robo Rider began, Taylor could tell since his voice sounded more artificial “But until you acclimate to your Rider powers, even using one of us will be draining. Let alone both. One day though.”

“Good to know. So why “Rider”?”

“While some use them more than others, the Riders have been associated with motorcycles for centuries.”

“Centuries?”

“There are enough time-travelling Riders that you shouldn’t be too surprised by details like that.”

“Fair. Then one last question. That guy, you called him the Genius, who is he?”

“As we said, a Genius. A spirit of inspiration, representing the very concept of Riders.”

“Alright, that’s that then. So, um, the teaching me how to make scarabs will have to wait for another day. For now, the plan is to finish my original costume and get everything together by next weekend. That’s when he said I was supposed to make my debut, right?”

“Correct. Hopefully we can teach you some fundamentals by then.”

“Great. I’m heading to bed. Today has been… tiring” Taylor placed her costume and the driver into the coal chute and closed it. The scarabs accompanied her to her room and landed on her dresser, becoming inert. Taylor just slumped face first onto her bed. “What a day” she mumbled into her pillow, before adjusting herself into a more proper sleep position and let her exhaustion take her away.

\-------------  
The weekend came and went. Taylor kept to her usual schedule for the most part, but made great strides in completing her costume. The clarity in using her power helped her complete much more of the armouring, and she picked up the needed paint, belt, straps and lenses. While she worked, the Scarabs explained rather nuanced method behind their creation. Shaping and firing unique moulds for each one, making faience from quartz and firing it in the mould, the creation of dyes from insects used to paint the faience scarabs, the method of inscribing the scarabs with the corrects spells, and then finally using the Lux Driver to energize an awaken the scarab. When Taylor asked how she would know what shape and colours would be needed for a rider the scarabs insisted that the inspiration would come to her in time.

Honestly between running, working on her costume and being “tutored” by the scarabs, Taylor had forgotten all about her problems. But now it was monday and the threat of the school day hung over her head all morning. Robo Rider had insisted on accompanying her for the day, while would Bio Rider stay home to watch over the Lux Driver. When Taylor said it was a bad idea, he insisted she not worry about it. Needless to say, she was quite worried.

“Relax Khepri. I am here with you, you will be safe from Shadow Stalker” Robo Rider stated confidently. Taylor stood stiff staring down the school ahead of her. She closed her eyes and started taking deep breaths.

“No offence, but I don’t think i’m suddenly going to be safe now that I’m a Rider.” Taylor whispered. “And I really shouldn't talk to you here, people will start thinking I’m crazy”

“We’re communicating through your power, you don’t need to speak aloud. And as for your enemies, I will remain vigilant on your behalf. Guide and aid, as we said”

Taylor felt a little dumb for not realizing she didn’t need to talk. She focused, trying to communicate silently with the scarab “And by vigilant you mean?”

“Keeping an eye out primarily, If you so wished I could also discreetly intervene on your behalf. Arrange distractions and such. I can also use a weakened version of the vortech shot to stun targets.”

“Let’s refrain from shooting anyone” Taylor communicated, heading into the school.

\-------------  
Taylor was beginning to consider letting Robo Rider open fire on the Trio. And it wasn’t even noon. They’ve gotten good at getting under her skin: the right combination of words, actions and implications to just crush her spirits. The kind of things a scarab couldn't protect her from. She was currently spending Mr. Gladly’s world issues class locked in a restroom stall.

“Khepri’ she could hear the scarab bu continued to ignore him. She didn’t want to talk to him about it, she just wanted to be left alone. After a few moments she heard Robo Rider sigh. “Taylor.” It was the first time she heard either of them use her name “I know you feel like you’re powerless against them and I was unable to render assistance in any meaningful way, but you are better than this. Cry, let it out. Let yourself feel without retreating. The time will come for you to rise above them, to be victorious. It may not feel possible, but now more than ever can you succeed. Bio Rider, I and all other scarabs you forge will be here to do whatever you need us to.”

“Thank you.” Taylor spoke. “Let’s get out of here” She slung her bag across her shoulder and made a break for the exit before class would get out.

\-------------  
So with Brockton Bay being a bay and all, it turns out clay and sand aren’t the most difficult things to get a hold of, and modern society has made soda lime and magnesium hydroxide household fixtures. Her power made acquiring calcite lime from the shells of sea arthropods simple enough. The scarabs guided her in constructing an old fashioned stove in her yard, and then gave her tips on shaping the clay. Something about working with her hands, making something, it made her feel at peace. She found her inspiration while Robo Rider was consoling her. Something in her mind’s eye, black and red and yellow with a V shape over the wings, and an S crest in its center. The head had a more pronounced horn like a rhinoceros beetle, with a channel running down the horns. She saw electricity arcing from it.

She worked slowly, carefully molding the clay with her hands and a knife. After a while she managed to make one that seemed right, she lit the fire in the stove and placed the mould near the flame. She continued to fan the flames from time to time while working on another of the same mould just in case. She finished the second one before the first was fully fired, so she began on a third copy an placed the second next to the original. It was late evening before they were done, and only the second one came out properly. Her father came home, but he bought the art project story. That or he didn’t really care. Just told her not to light everything on fire.

\-------------  
Tuesday passed easy enough. After school she managed to mix the faience and fire the scarab. Wednesday the trio almost cornered her in the restroom but Robo Rider managed to warn her in time, and trip Madison as a distraction. After school she started to gather the insects to make the needed pigments, which proved a bit more difficult than she initially surmised. Thursday she finished her costume and finally managed to create the pigments which weren’t done setting until friday. She did a passable job at painting the scarab and saturday she inscribed the necessary spells on its bottom. Now it was the moment of truth.

Taylor retrieved the Lux Driver from its hiding place an set it on the basement floor. She set the new scarab into one of the driver’s slots. Then, under the watchful eyes of her scarab companions, she pressed the device’s trigger. The orb in the center lit up like the sun, golden energy pouring from it to and into the scarab through the inscriptions both on the Lux Driver and the spells on the scarab. Taylor watched in awe as the scarab lit up with energy, its wings opening to reveal a layered star shape within. After a moment it all faded and the new scarab flew from the belt, falling into ranks alongside Robo Rider and Bio Rider.

“Greeting Khepri, I am Stronger” spoke a gruff voice, sparks of electricity coming from its wings.

Taylor was beaming with pride for her creation “It worked! Yes! I can’t wait to see what you guys can do… actually what do you guys do? I mean specifically, you said that using you grants me the powers of other riders, so what are Robo Rider, Bio Rider and Stronger capable of?”

“I grant enhanced speed at the expense of defence, the ability to turn into liquid and access to sword called the bio blade” Bio Rider explained.

“I grant enhanced strength and greatly enhanced durability at the expense of mobility and access to a gun called the vortech shooter” Robo Rider added.

“And I grant the ability to generate and direct electricity!” Stronger announced.

“Cool. Well then, tomorrow is the big day so let’s get a good night’s rest” For the first time in a long while Taylor was genuinely excited about her life.

\-------------  
It was April 11th, just past midnight and Taylor was heading west through the docks. The proverbial “wrong side of the tracks”. She was garbed in her black costume with her three scarabs tagging along within the swarm of insects she was gathering with her power. It came easy, growing a swarm to massive sizes with her newly enhanced powers. Her transformation driver was held in a spider silk pouch she had made which was hung from the left side of her hip.

She made her way through the dark streets, avoiding people where she saw them. Eventually she saw something: a group of asian men illuminated by a lighter, all dressed in the red and green of the ABB. Taylor watched them from a distance while keeping an eye out for their leader, a parahuman called Lung. The gang members moved away from the door of a nearby building as a he exited it. He was taller than anyone else present, wearing an ornate mask and no shirt. He was covered in tattoos of eastern dragons from the neck down. He began to talk, but his words were muffled from this distance. Taylor circled around to get closer so she could hear. Climbing up the fire escape of the building they were in front of, getting her close enough to make out Lung’s words even through his thick accent.

“…the children, just shoot. Doesn’t matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?” Lung snarled, and was met with a murmur of assent from his underlings.

“How well protected am I in my Rider form?” Taylor communicated to the scarabs.

“Nigh impervious to conventional small arms fire and traditional weapons. Elements, explosions and esoteric attacks will be able to damage you, but your durability is likely to be impressive even when compared to that provided by parahuman powers” Bio Rider responded.

“Good enough” Taylor thought. She sat there observing the gang members for a little bit longer, more had arrived in a car and they were all beginning to head north. “Now or never” she whispered to herself and commanded her insects to attack. Information from the bugs flooded her mind but did not overwhelm her, it all came together in one large picture. So when Lung blasted the swarm with fire she was able to tell exactly where he was and guided her swarm into the midst of the gang, crawling into clothing and hair before biting and stinging. Then she directed her more venomous insects towards Lung himself, feeling a perverse sense of pleasure at harming the super villain. She could tell he was nearly half covered in the dragon scales his power generated, she needed to put him down quick. And for a second she thought she may succeed without needing to transform.

Then Lung exploded. Literally he burst into a ball of flame, eradicating the insects around him. And then again. His clothes were in tatters and burning away. He roared, a very human sound of rage. Her mind easily began directing specific insects to target his eyes and other vulnerable locations while her body stood and readied the Lux Driver. Lung had ignited his body, and scales began to explode from his spine and cover him further. Taylor pressed the driver to her waist, causing a black braided belt to extend from it and wrap around her. Lung turned to face her and gave out a victorious roar, knowing he found his target. Taylor just took a deep breath, struck a sailor-moon esque pose, yelled “Henshin” and hit the trigger.

The orb on the driver lit up, solar energy flowing through its inscriptions and spreading across her body in hieroglyph-esque shapes. Then it hardened into a white undersuit. A golden chest piece formed next, resembling a large egyptian usekh, with parts extending diagonally from the sides and wrapping around her chest. In the center of it was a scarab crest. Next were golden armbands, then shadow black gauntlets and boots both with golden cuffs. Her neck and mouth were covered in similar black armour, and her head was covered in white armour. Two egyptian blue compound eyes formed on the helmet, with golden armouring forming along their sides and across the forehead with a scarab head formation on the top. Once the transformation was complete the orb in the driver remained lit while somehow casting no light on her surroundings. She also found herself to be a few inches taller.

Taylor, now Khepri, retreated from the ledge as Lung leapt halfway up the side of the building, waiting for him to climb the rest of the way up. The scarabs had told her that when it came time to fight that her Rider powers would guide her. It sounds so much less probable in retrospect Khepri realised, but here was no turning back now. Eventually Lung’s burning hand reached over the side of the building as he pulled himself over the ledge. He was eight feet tall, three feet across at the shoulders and covered head to toe in scales. They faced each other down for a second before Lung blasted a wave of fire towards Khepri. She charged, her left arm held across her face as she burst through the flames throwing a straight right punch into Lung.

Much to both of their surprise it carried enough force to knock the dragon man back a few steps. Hoping to use his opening to knock him back over the ledge, Khepri followed up with a left hook into his side. Then she went for a turning kick but lung exploded again, sending her flying back. Lung had fired another blast of flame by the time she was standing, giving her only a second to brace herself and avoid falling again. Thankfully she had a plan. Not a foolproof one, she was banking on one detail being her in favour and not his. She called out for Bio Rider, snatching the scarab from midair and locking him into the left slot on the Lux Driver. She it the trigger again.

“Bio Rider - Khepri Alloy!” A female voice announced from her belt. Suddenly her armbands turned red, her eyes, gauntlets and boots now indigo, a red stripe ran down the center of her helmet, and the scarab crest on her chest became the stylized RX that was on both Bio and Robo Rider. She felt lighter, quicker. She dashed towards Lung, evading his blasts instead of trying to tank through them. When she got close enough she leaned in for a shoulder charge while transforming into liquid. She figured that Bio Rider’s liquify ability was not water and instead something with a hopefully high boiling point. She was right. Not that it didn’t hurt when she full body splashed on lung, but it managed to extinguish him and put him off balance. Reforming on the other side she drew the Bio Blade from the orb in the Lux Driver and hit the trigger on the belt one last time. “Solar Charge! Spark Cutter!” the belt announced as the sword’s blade lit up. Khepri took one good swing and Lung went sprawling. 

Taylor’s transformation cancelled, the scarabs were right that using their power would be tiring. She was panting heavily, hunched over with her hands on her knees. Suddenly the roof shook: three massive creatures, two of which were carrying pairs of riders. “Riders” Taylor spoke under her breath with a light chuckle. The new arrivals dismounted, and the tallest one approached her with the others hanging back. “You really saved us some trouble” His voice was deep and masculine, though muffled slightly by his motorcycle helmet. “I gotta tell ya, what we saw of that fight was sweet.” He was completely dressed in motorcycles leathers with a stylised skull painted on the helmet.

He reached out to shake Taylor’s hand. At that moment pieces fell into place, they had to be the Undersiders. Grinning behind her mask she shook his hand and spoke “It was nothing, Lung failed to live up to his reputation”

He laughed a little at that before gesturing behind himself with his thumb “When we got word Lung was aiming to come after us tonight, we were pretty freaked. We were arguing strategy for the better part of the day. We eventually decided, fuck it, we’d meet him halfway. Wing it. Not my usual way of doing things, but yeah.” he let out a deep breath, turning to look at the unconscious Lung. “Wouldn’t you know, his flunky Lee is there with a half dozen guys, but Lung and the rest of his gang are nowhere to be found,” he laughed, a surprisingly normal sound for someone wearing a mask with a skull on it. “Lee’s no slouch in a fight, but there’s a reason he’s not leader of the ABB. He got spooked without his boss there and ran. Heading this way we saw you cut down Lung with a fucking lightsaber. We owe you one.”

“It’s nothing. And it’s called the Bio Blade.” Taylor responded.

“Certainly did a number on him, and his flunkies too. Wasp and bee stings, fire ants and spider bites. Going to wake up feeling a helluva lot worse tomorrow” Added a girl dressed in a skintight outfit that combined black with a pale shade of blue or purple and long and windblown dark blond hair. She was leaning over the roof’s edge, observing the results of Taylor’s initial attack.

“Oh right, Introductions. That’s Tattletale. I’m Grue. The girl with the dogs-” he pointed to the other girl who wasn’t in costume unless you counted a plaid skirt, army boots, a torn-up sleeveless T-shirt and a hard plastic, dollar-store rottweiler mask as a costume. “-We call her Bitch, her preference, but in the interests of being P.G., the good guys and media decided to call her Hellhound instead. Last and certainly least, we have Regent.”

“Fuck you, Grue,” Regent half laughed at his comrade. He was wearing a white masquerade mask with a silver coronet around his short black curls, and wore a ruffled white shirt with skintight leggings tucked into knee-high boots.

Taylor was a bit surprised to hear that the monsters were dogs but did her best to take it all in stride “I’m Khepri.” was all she added.

“Woman of few words.” Tattletale commented “Shy but excited” She turned from her spot, then stopped. “Heads up, we gotta scram”.

Bitch nodded in response and whistled at the dogs which leaned down for their rider’s to mount up. Grue turned towards Taylor “Need a ride?”

Taylor shook her head “Not tonight.”

Grue shrugged. Then Tattletale spoke up “Well, Khepri, a cape is gonna show up in less than a minute. You did us a solid by dealing with Lung, so take my advice. Someone from the Protectorate shows up, finds two bad guys duking it out, they’re not going to let one walk away. You should get out of here,” she flashed a wicked, foxy smile. And with that they hopped on the dos and leapt over Taylor’s head, riding away.

Taylor had a plan, but it necessitated her getting out of here before any heroes arrive. “Hey, didn’t you guys say that a Rider is supposed to have a motorcycle?” She asked the scarabs as she made her way down the fire escape.

“It’s in the Lux Driver” Robo Rider informed her.

“Of Course it is.” She held out the golden device, thought “motorcycle” and hit the trigger. Light poured out of the driver and formed into a bright white cruiser with gold instead of chrome and a big scarab on the front. “I’m guessing my powers know how to ride this?” The scarabs buzzed in confirmation. She rode home, her hair flying in the wind.

It felt good.

She felt good.

**Author's Note:**

> Worm and Ward are the creations of WIldbow. They can be found at parahumans.wordpress.com


End file.
